THE MOMENT
"Hi, you're Pavette, right?" The question came as a whisper and the teen girl looked up from her book. It was late in the summer and she was spending the day studying in the library to avoid the heat, and home environment. She found an older woman with a square jaw and short silver hair standing close by waiting for an answer. She was used to being approached by strangers, and at least this one had the decency to ask and wait.
"Yes; but, I don't have the same sensitivity as my ancestor if you're trying to get my opinion on something," she replied. "Even she didn't have the same sensitivity the fairytales attribute to her," she added.
"Ancestor?" the older woman asked, then shook her head. "No, I'm here to speak to you. My name's Marina Stormhold," she offered her hand in greeting and Pavette accepted it with curiosity.
"You're not here about my great great great great Aunt who couldn't sleep on a pea?"
"No," Marina shook her head. "But, I'm familiar with the story. Did that actually happen on this Earth?" she asked.
"No, it didn't happen like the fairytale says...," Pavette started explaining; but, she paused. "Wait, did you say 'this Earth'?" she asked.
"I'm from an alternate Earth," Marina nodded. "I'm recruiting students for a special high school and I'm here to see if you're interested."
"A high school on an alternate Earth?" Pavette sat up with wide eyes. "Does it have a big library? Does it have books from other universes??"
"Yes," Marina nodded with a grin. "I'm offering all of that."
"Why?" Pavette asked. She relaxed slightly and looked around the library. She wasn't the only teenager there; but, there weren't a lot. It was the perfect mix of other patrons to encourage doubt in Pavette's mind. "Why me? There are others here, I didn't see you invite any of them." It was mostly a bluff. She had been so absorbed in her book she wouldn't have noticed a marching band unless it called her name.
"You are something known as a 'Unique Soul'," Marina answered. "Infinite other realities exist; but, you are the only version of you across infinity. Everyone else here...," she gestured at the other readers. "... is what's known as a 'Zero'. They have doppelgangers on other Earths and aren't qualified to attend the school."
"What makes them unqualified? Just because other versions exist?" Pavette asked. In her mind, she had already accepted the invitation; but, she still had an opportunity to learn before committing to anything.
"Not technically, but it does kind of play out that way," Marina nodded with a shrug. "Unique Souls come with powerful abilities. You may not be aware of what you can do yet; but, you're able to create portals to Traverse between universes and fire stellar plasma beams from your hands. All Uniques can do something and as a result, the school is considered dangerous for Zeros."
"So... the invitation isn't because of who my ancestor was?" It seemed like it, but Pavette wanted to be sure of that detail. She'd grown tired of being associated with the skewed fairytale. People had a tendency to assume that just because she was studious she was trying to emulate her detail-obsessed relative."
"I still don't know who she was," Marina shook her head with a shrug. "The offer is for YOU to attend the school."
"Yes!" Pavette nodded eagerly. "I want to attend!" School in another universe and away from her family sounded very enticing. "What do I have to do?"
"I'm glad you asked," Marina nodded. "I'm actually putting together something of a team; you'll need a group to get through the school year. The team will be a group of cyborgs...," Marina said as she met Pavetta's eyes. "So, you're going to have to go through a bit of an upgrade; how attached are you to your body parts?"